Travels - Part Two - Isle of Man

The second part of my blog post of my travels is about the Isle of Man. The island is a short hop by plane from Ireland and then another hop from there to the 'mainland' UK.

But here is an image taken in the village of Dalkey just outside Dublin, Ireland, it was in the window of the local chemist shop and must have been a project by local school children.. a great idea

Irish school children's project in Dalkey Ireland.

Before leaving on my trip I had contacted Kathryn Mitchell of Kathryn Mitchell Ceramics, who lived in Australia for several years, trained in Ceramics in Qld but then returned to her home island in 2013.  It was great to see how successful Katy has been in such a short time, getting her business up and running.

Katy won the wheel thrown section of the 2012 Port Hacking Potters National Competition which was judged by Greg Daly. (the competition is running again this year, they have a Facebook page here: Facebook link and blog here: Blog link for more detail ).  It is fascinating to see how Katy's work has developed to suit her new circumstances.

Kathryn Mitchell Ceramics in her studio display

We could only stay for a few days but we were lucky that there was an Art Trail on that weekend which Katy was involved in and so had her studio open to visitors.  It is such a lovely location with rustic surroundings of the owners furniture restoration and refurbishment business.

the stone walled studio is part of a complex with Pine Wood Studio furniture makers

Katy was giving her visitors little spoons to take home and I had taken one of mine to give to her so we swapped but I know I did well out of the swap!  A little pourer and dish also came home with me. Fortunately light enough not to tip my bag weight over as the planes in and out of the island are not very big and have low weight restrictions. Tricky when you are packing for 6 weeks in a cold climate tour!

As part of the weekend there were pottery demonstrations and yarn bombing going on in the second city of the island, Peel.

Viking statues feeling warmer with a little yarn bombing, Peel Museum

 I missed the raku event but met up with the potter Matt Owen, the next day and saw the results.

Raku by Matt Owen, timber by Graham Hall

The pots go so well with the timber work of the other artist, Graham Hall, to display their work.  This was shown in the church hall along with another potter, Faye Christian who was doing hands on wheel lessons and the stall of Celine Appleyard. What a talented lot.

The weather was often foggy as we drove from one side to the other - anyone interested in motor bikes will know that the Isle of Man TT is about to be held.  How the riders manage those high speeds on those roads doesn't bear thinking about.

typical countryside of the Isle of Man

Spring was struggling through and though the daffodils had mostly finished flowering the blue bells were out in force and the fushia bushes just beginning to flower.

blue bell glen

fushia flowers begin to show

We had hired a car and so were able to take in some of the tourist spots such as the Laxey Wheel.

My husband appreciating the enginering of the Laxey Wheel

No puffins or Manx cats seen but perhaps another time.